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Saudi and UAE ban citizens from travelling to Lebanon

Bahrain also joins travel ban after Saudi halted $4bn aid to Lebanon army in response to "hostile" Hezbollah positions.

24 Feb 2016 03:49 GMT

File photo: The UAE joined Saudi Arabia in lashing out at Lebanon's failure to condemn Iranian "aggression" [Khaled Elfiqi/EPA]

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there.

The move on Tuesday came after Riyadh halted $4bn in aid to Lebanese security forces in response to "hostile" positions linked to Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.

The Saudi foreign ministry issued a statement calling on "all citizens not to travel to Lebanon, for their safety, and asking citizens residing in Lebanon or visiting not to stay unless extremely necessary".

The statement, run by the official SPA news agency, urged citizens to contact the Saudi Embassy in Beirut.

Announcing the aid halt on Friday, an official said the kingdom had noticed "hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hezbollah on the state".

The UAE also banned its citizens from travelling to Lebanon and reduced its diplomatic presence in Beirut.

Bahrain also urged citizens against travelling to Lebanon, and called on Bahrainis there already to leave quickly, according to a statement posted to state news.

On Friday, the United Arab Emirates announced "full support" of Saudi's review of its relations with Lebanon, blaming the country's "failure to condemn Iran's aggression" after Saudi Arabia's embassy was attacked in Tehran in January.

The embassy attack followed the execution of a renowned Shia leader in Saudi Arabia over "terrorism" charges.

"The UAE fully supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's decision to halt its aid to the Lebanese army and security forces," said the UAE's foreign ministry statement, posted on state media on Tuesday.

"At the same time [the UAE] calls upon Lebanon and its people to restore Lebanon to the Arab Nation where it belongs, away from the Iranian influences adopted by the so-called Hezbollah," the UAE statement added.